United Petrotrin have acquired the services of Trinidad and Tobago national striker Abiola Clarence on a one year contract after the player spent most of the pre-season training with the ‘Oilmen’.
Coach Brian Williams of United Petrotrin believes his team lacked the offence needed last season which consequently led to him signing the 23 year old striker until January 2008.
Williams confirmed the signing to ‘ttproleague.com saying, “Abiola is with us until January of next year.”
“He is a great player and clearly he is here to boost our attack. We have been vulnerable in our offence last season which saw us finishing in the bottom half of the table. Clarence is a national player and with good experience and this means a great deal for us. He has the national experience and I hope he can influence the players in our squad this season,” said the national Under-20 Coach.
Abiola Clarence was selected by national senior Coach Wim Rijsbergen last January for the Digicel Caribbean Cup, but he did not feature in any of the matches.
Trinidad and Tobago finished runners up with Haiti being crowned the Caribbean Cup Champions. Following that competition Abiola was recalled to the national team again by Coach Rijsbergen to prepare for a couple of friendly matches.
At present the former St Anthony’s College player is currently training with the national senior team as they prepare for the upcoming CONCACAF Gold Cup in the United States.
Another player confirmed on a one year deal with the ‘Oilmen’ is W Connection defender Hosani Thomas who is also 23 years old.
Williams added, “Hosani is a great player and has a lot of potential. He is the type of player we need in defence. He is left footed and this is what we need to bring some balance at the back,” said the former Strike Squad defender.
United Petrotrin finished last season with the Toyota Classic Cup but failed to climb higher than position eight in the League standings.